Fiorina defends spot in 2016 race, says it's time to 'take the fight' to Clinton

Carly Fiorina, the only female 2016 Republican presidential candidate, on Sunday dismissed the argument that she enjoys attacking Hillary Clinton, saying somebody must challenge the Democratic front-runner and her trustworthiness.

“I take no delight,” Fiorina, a former Hewlett-Packard chief executive, told “Fox News Sunday.” “Hillary Clinton has demonstrated over and over again that she is not transparent. She will clearly be the [Democratic] nominee, and somebody must take the fight to her.”

Fiorina argued Sunday, as she has since the start of her presidential bid, that Clinton “lacks transparency” and that as a former senator, first lady and secretary of state she is part of the “professional political class.”

“These are legitimate questions,” Fiorina said. "It is entirely legitimate when someone is running for the presidency of the United States to ask whether they are being transparent, whether they are trustworthy, whether they have a track record of leadership.”

Fiorina right now faces long odds that she will be able to continue to get out her message as November 2016 nears, which clearly includes posing a sharp contrast to Clinton.

However, she expressed confidence Sunday that she’ll be among the top GOP contenders in a field of more than a dozen, allowing her to take part in at least some or all of the primary debates.

Fiorina said she was “confident” that she’ll be in the debate in August sponsored by Fox News.

Fiorina has roughly 1 percent of the vote, according to the most recent averaging of polls by the nonpartisan website RealClearPolitics.com

The Democratic National Committee immediately responded to Fiorina’s remarks, saying the business record she touts on the campaign trail is underwhelming.

“Under her reign of Hewlett-Packard, stock prices dropped dramatically only to rise when her firing was announced,” said DNC spokeswoman Holly Shulman. “Throwing around empty attacks won't distract from her failed record.”